The Google Premier Partner and general Partner systems can be confusing when figuring out the right one for your company. You may have heard about Google Ads Partners, or this is your first time hearing about it. Essentially, it’s a company that is trained by Google to utilize the Google Ads platform to generate more leads and conversions for businesses.
While you can run Google Ads by yourself, it can be more beneficial to hire someone else that is trained to use the Google Ads platform who has experience running other accounts (businesses Google Ads). When you work with companies that have that experience, they have used different strategies for various industries and can use that experience for your account.
The digital marketing landscape has gotten increasing difficult to navigate over the years, and therefore it is paramount that you have a company you can trust to help you create the strongest campaign you can for your business. If you’re in the market for a new agency, then this post is for you. We will cover what a Google Partner is, the differences between a partner and a primer partner and what benefits you can gain from working with the latter.
All of which will help your digital marketing efforts and find what could be the missing piece in your marketing puzzle. So lets get into everything about Google Partners and the different types.
What is a Google Partner?
First, let’s cover the Google Partner program and why it’s essential. A Google Partner is an agency certified by Google through special training to get to a level of expertise to become a partner. In addition to training, agencies must meet certain requirements and performance standards continuously throughout the year on Google Ads to consider being a partner and be accepted into the program.
If you need to expand your online presence and reach, that is where Google Partners come in. They will develop an overview of your company’s short- and long-term goals and target audience and then create a detailed strategy using effective tactics to target the right audience with the right strategy.
When you work with a Google Partner, you know you are working with experienced professionals certified by Google itself, so you know you’re getting the highest quality service and results.
The Difference between Google Partner and Google Premier Partner
Google Partner Program
The Google Partner Program is the second tier in the Google Partners program, with the first being a general member. A general member has access to standard benefits to Google Ads but doesn’t have all 3 following key components that for highly optimized scores, spending, and certifications.
What sets The Google Partner Program from the first tier is that it gives access to a range of standard benefits, which enable you to grow, further develop your Google Ads skills, and help your clients succeed.
Qualifications of the Google Partner Program
Maximize Campaign Success
One of the key components of the standard Google Partner Program is that the agency has an optimization score of at least 70% on its Google Partners account. This means that the agency finds new opportunities and gets most of your campaigns by maintaining this score through recommendations.
Drive Client Growth
To be apart of the Google Partners, the agency must maintain a $10,000 USD 90-day across managed accounts. This 90-day spend demonstrates that the agency has sustainable success and growth, which demonstrates client growth.
Demonstrates expertise
Google Ads wants to ensure that agencies have expertise on the latest Google Ads products and solutions by ensuring 50% of the account strategies are certified in various certifications.
Google Premier Partner Program
The most exclusive tier in the Partner Program is the Google Premier Partner. Premier Partners are in the top 3% of companies in Google Ads within a country.
What sets the Google Premier Partner apart is that there are no strict guidelines or applications to get to this level; you can only become a Premier Partner by being invited by Google itself through consistently high performance for clients.
Qualifications of Google Premier Partner Program
Each of the Premier Partner evaluations is relative to different companies and can vary by country on an annual basis.
Existing client growth
A Google Premier Partner shows the ability to grow their existing year-over-year ad spend growth among exciting clients. Why is this important? It demonstrates that clients trust their experience to drive continuous growth for their clients and that clients trust them to increase their spending.
New client growth
It’s an important qualification for companies that can acquire new clients, which Google Ads measures by ads spend growth and ad spend for first-time Google Ads clients.
Client Retention
In our opinion, this qualification shows the most important factor for the long-term success of a Premier Partner is client retention. Suppose the company can sustain its client’s business year-over-year in ad spend; it shows that they demonstrate client loyalty and trust.
Product diversification
While the previous program qualifications show that the company is certified in the accounts, it’s another side to show that they have demonstrated an investment in ad spends in different Google product mix. Such products are YouTube, Display & Video 360, Display, Apps, and Shopping each calendar year.
Annual Ad Spend
Many of the qualifications are measured in ad spend, so it makes sense that the final qualification for Google Premier Partner is annual ad spend. But what separates it from the primary program is that it’s measured across managed accounts, not just one.
Benefits of Each Google Partner Program Tier
Sometimes it’s easier to see the exact difference between all the different tiers in the Google Partners program to see which tier is best for your goals.
The most important Premier partner benefits include:
👏 Access to beta-test products to drive client growth!
👏 The exclusive insight briefs on consumer behaviours through newsletters straight from Google!
👏 And extra support straight from Google!
| Member | Partner | Premier Partner | |
| Education & Insights | |||
| Product education & certifications | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Consumer insights reports | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Product betas | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Access & Support | |||
| Account & technical support | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Executive experiences (Invitation only) | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Dedicated account support (Invitation only) | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Recognition & Rewards | |||
| Competitions & rewards | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Promotional offers | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Partner badge | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Directory | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Premier Partner awards | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
Overall
The bottom line is if you’re serious about optimizing your digital marketing efforts, then hiring a Google Premier Partner should be a top priority. Wheater you’re just starting out or a long-standing company, when it comes to maximizing your ROI, Google Premier Partner is where to go. While other agencies still can drive strong efforts as a Google Partner, those that earned the title “Google Premier Partner” have proven themselves worthy of your trust!
Investing with these experts will ensure your campaigns start with the strongest start possible. So make sure you keep an eye out on the Premier Partner Bage.
“Okay Now What?”
Once these initial steps are completed, it should become much easier for you to narrow down prospective agencies until only one remains —the one who will ultimately assume responsibility for designing and optimizing your Google Ads! Just remember that finding the right Google Premier Partner isn’t always easy, but keep an eye out for the badge!